News

El Cerrito again hosting traveling Lunafest cinema showcase

By Chris TreadwayContra Costa Times

Posted:
02/28/2013 09:54:43 AM PST

Updated:
02/28/2013 01:42:03 PM PST

EL CERRITO -- The traveling cinema event known as Lunafest returns with a new selection of films by and about women from 7:30 to 10 p.m. March 2 to the Performing Arts Center at El Cerrito High School, 540 Ashbury Ave.

This year's showcase will present nine short films in a gala benefit hosted by El Cerrito resident and longtime television actress Karen Grassle, who will also interview two of the filmmakers.

According to organizers, "The films range from animation to fictional drama, and cover topics such as women's health, motherhood, body image, aging, cultural diversity and breaking barriers."

A scene from "When I Grow Up" by filmmaker Sharon Arteaga, who will be a special guest at Lunafest in El Cerrito.

Grassle, familiar to television viewers as a cast member of the long-running television series "Little House on the Prairie," will interview filmmaker Sharon Arteaga about her entry "When I Grow Up" and Jisoo Kim, who made the film "The Bathhouse."

The sixth annual El Cerrito edition of the festival is dedicated to the memory of Wanna Wright, who died in May 2012.

In addition to being a committee member of LUNAFEST East Bay, Wright was a Breast Cancer Fund board member, a co-founder of the African American Breast Cancer Task Group and a dedicated advocate of breast cancer prevention.

Advertisement

Proceeds benefit the Information Technology Academy at El Cerrito High School, the Breast Cancer Fund (www.breastcancerfund.org) and World Neighbors (www.wn.org), an international organization devoted to eliminate hunger, poverty and disease in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Tickets, available at http://eclunafest2013.eventbrite.com/, are $20 general or $5 for students or teachers with ID. There is also a $50 VIP admission that includes a pre-reception gathering at the El Cerrito home of Joann and Hossain Steck-Bayat, longtime festival organizers and supporters.